Ode to Us
by SweetTherapy
Summary: Sequel story to the oneshot “The Cure-All.” “But when I looked into your eyes, I had found nothing. Where once was summer was now winter. Where once was love and passion, embers die. And where once there was us, now you and I reside.”
1. Chapter 1

**Ode to Us**

**Story Summary: **Sequel story to the oneshot "The Cure-All." "But when I looked into your eyes, I had found nothing. Where once was summer was now winter. Where once was love and passion, embers die. And where once there was us, now you and I reside."

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Degrassi or its characters.

Warning! I am a detail whore! =b It's long 'cuz I like explaining things in a certain manner.

Chapter 1

~/~

"Here we are, ma'am."

"Thank you." My hand automatically floating to my designer bag, I pulled out my wallet and glided my fingertips over the edge of the bills. "Um, how much?" I asked as I poked my head around the front passenger's seat.

"As much as that," responded my cabby pointing a finger towards the taximeter. He was obviously trying to cheer me up, but honestly, it wasn't working. _Sheesh. It's not like I drove around half of Toronto in one day…did I? Whatev._ I handed him the amount for my fare and picked up the several gazillion bags lying around me. There went half of my paycheck. _I think I should ask for a raise. Can I do that? _Who knew? It wasn't as if that job was getting any easier.

I sighed and slowly but surely got out of the cab. It had been yet another day of hectic disaster in the world of fashion that was my employment. Only, today was a _little_ bit special. It had started out like any other day: I'd go out and grab coffee for Andrea and her co-workers, then she'd tack on a long list of things to do and remember in a really long sentence, _quickly_, I might add, and I'd have to write it down illegibly because she was going too fast, then I'd run out to the aforementioned stores and pick up the orders of hats, and stilettos, and fabric, and the many, many articles of clothing that Andrea just had to have for a special collection, then she'd make me _make_ more orders to different shops which I'd have to get the _next_ day. But, today, the…what was it, December the 12th? It felt important. Anyways, I kind of…overlooked a few appointments. But, it wasn't my fault! I had them written down. The problem was it was all too squiggly to read properly. Andrea needed to understand: a person can only write so fast when trying to write neatly!

And now, here I was, standing in front of the steps that led up to my apartment, or rather, Marco's, Ellie's, mine, and now _Griffin's_ apartment, staring at the front door thanking God every step I took that Andrea didn't fire me. I had sworn that _that_ would have been my first and final colossal slip-up as her assistant, and I was determined to make it stay that way. Of course, it wasn't without its consequences. For example: the enormous amount of bags that had hung loosely around my arms, some of them weighing so heavily that I was sure they were going to leave red imprints. It seemed like a total _The Devil Wears Prada_ moment, but even if it wasn't real, I bet it would have definitely been cool to work for Meryl Streep.

I made my way to the top of the steps and stopped immediately in front of the door after I started wondering how I was going to get it open without the use of my own arms. _Great. Hmm. Maybe I can kick it?_ I lifted my leg and just as it was about to make contact, the door opened.

"Paige?" _Uh-oh._ "Whoa!" I was going down. My face was about to greet the apartment floor with a loud bang, but all of a sudden, I felt a pair of strong hands grab onto my arms. I blushed at the contact but more at the embarrassment that flooded into my body. It was none other than Griffin who had taken upon himself to catch me before I did something completely stupid. I was sincerely grateful, but I wasn't exactly expressing that due to my current position of being half outside, half inside the doorway.

Clearing my throat, I gradually pushed away and straightened myself. "Griffin. Uh, so nice you were there! You saved my life," I said with a smile.

He laughed, and I couldn't help but feel my smile grow wider. "Paige, I don't think your life was in danger," he observantly stated. "I just stopped you from getting a red nose." Taking a step back, he took notice of the several bags I currently had in my possession. "Here. Let me help you." I suddenly felt the weight of a thousand pounds lift off my left and right arms, and I rubbed at them trying to bring them back to life. "You know, you are crazy for carrying all of these by yourself."

We both walked into the apartment, and I breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, when you have a boss like Andrea, aka 'high-fashion Meeri,' life decides to beat you down with a large imaginary stick," came my reply as I found myself flopping onto the nearest chair I could find. With my face buried in my hands, I closed my eyes and tried to "de-stressify" my mind.

I heard a few distant footsteps walk into the living room. "Paige, have you seen my iPod?" It was light and sincere, and I had instantly recognized it. "Paige? Hey, what's wrong?" I was asked as I felt a hand to my back.

I looked up at him hoping my eyes would do all the talking for me. "Marco, I need a hug," I pouted.

Marco smiled. "Aw, Paige." He bent down and pulled me into an embrace. I quickly latched onto him. I needed _something_ to get my mind off of today. "Was it work?"

I nodded into his shoulder. "Yeah. I didn't like it." I knew I had sounded like a bratty elementary school kid, but I didn't care. I wanted to vent. "It's hard."

Marco laughed lightheartedly. "Paige, you realize you sounded like my little cousin just now, right?"

I pushed him away and playfully smacked him in the arm struggling to control the grin he had caused. "Thanks for the support, _friend_."

"You know what you need?" He walked over to the table and picked up his previously missing iPod. "You need an outlet. Go in your room. Do the teenager thing. Pump up your music. Or you know…" He leaned back all smooth-like and pointed his finger towards the apple device in his hand. "I've got my iPod right here…" I laughed a little. Marco _always_ seemed to know what to say in times like these in my life. I wondered how he could be ever be so amazing like this. "Or, hey. Oh, I've got it!" He ran over to me getting down on his knees to meet my eye-level. "I tried the coolest thing today. Ellie took me to a friend's, and I played the drums!" I gave him one of my looks, but he never faltered. "Okay, _horribly_, but still. You get to beat things! With sticks!"

"Well then, Ellie must have been _really _stressed out back then," chimed in Griffin. "Because, from what she told me, she used to practice _all_ the time."

"Hmm. She _was_ kinda goth in high school," said Marco. A laugh escaped my lips. I was definitely fortunate to have roommates like these.

"Well, gentlemen," I started as I began to stand up. "Music will have to wait 'til tomorrow. The inside of my eyelids are calling for my attention." As soon as I took a step towards my room, I heard a forced groan from behind me.

"Sleep? Paige, it's only 10, and your favorite quote isn't exactly 'The early bird gets the worm,'" I listened as Marco explained.

"Yeah," spoke Griffin. "Maybe you should take up Marco on his offer. Drums sound like fun to play."

I spun around and smirked at the child-like gleam in his eyes. "Of course they do, Griffin. You're a music junkie, remember?"

"Oh, ouch," he falsely flinched. "I'm trying to get help, okay?"

I rolled my eyes at the comment and started walking away. "I'm tired. G'night, guys. Have fun with your musical cravings!"

"Thanks."

"Yeah, whatever Paige. We all know you probably have a song stuck in your head right now."

Past the kitchen through the slightly cracked-open door had lain my bedroom. Compared to the rest of the building, it was as dark as a movie theater probably receiving the only light from the hallway. With thoughts of feeling the soft fabric from my bed underneath my back occupying my mind, I stretched my arms up, taking a big long relieving yawn and walked in feeling the wall on my right for the light switch. The room had suddenly turned brighter, and I only squinted in response. In the observance of my room, I noted the newly placed cluster of bags lying right next to my bed. I had the strangest feeling like they were trying to mock me by just being there. It made me begin to think that Andrea was purely using me for clothes space, but I had to suck it up. This was what I had wanted, and I was going to stick with it no matter what. I mentally thanked Griffin in my head and sighing, I casually jogged up to my dresser. Out came a pair of pink shorts and a gray shirt to accompany my sleeping attire with which, afterwards, I continued my preparation for dreamland in the bathroom.

Finally, armed with a clean makeup-free face, minty brushed teeth, a change of clothing, and a new outlook on why life was such a downer, I climbed into bed and pulled the sheets over me. It was the hardest thing to be able to fall asleep so casually when so much was going on in my mind. It was like a messy dorm room in my head with all the chaos included. One second, I'd be thinking about how my day went at work, a picture of Andrea giving orders clearly displaying itself in my mind's eye, and the next, I'd be thinking about Marco and his funny yet genuine comments taking into consideration the strangeness of me, Paige Michalchuk, laying hands on a drum set. _I probably wouldn't sound that great_. That brought a smile to my face. Sometimes even images of Griffin would float around up there just randomly, and I'd feel even more relaxed. I didn't know why. I suppose I felt comforted by being with him, or he was just fun to be around. I wasn't sure.

Today was a smidge different, however, not only on how everything had happened earlier on, but on how my emotions were playing themselves out. I knew that it was hard keeping up with Andrea's demanding nature, and I had, of course, not blamed myself for the incident that happened, but, for some reason, I was feeling a slight pang of guilt whenever I thought of something or someone in particular. Was it working for a magazine that had too much of a controlling boss who took up most of my time? No. Was it that I felt incompetent not being able to meet her requests with ease like I had seen so many others do quite a few times before? No. Was it because I was currently not enrolled in Banting like my mother had wanted for so long before my fiasco with term papers and grades? No, it wasn't that either…Was it something involving my roommates? Marco? Ellie? Griffin? _Ouch_. I felt it again: the twinge of shame. Griffin? There it was again. It felt stronger. What did I do to him? Did I not thank him properly for his help? Have I treated him horribly in any way within the past months he's been here? No. It was something else. But, what could it have been?

The difficulty of organizing my thoughts into a neat pile was starting to take its toll on me. As if a pair of heavy weights had been placed on them, I soon felt my eyelids begin to float down shutting the view of the ceiling away from me completely.

_Yes, sleep. This is what I need for the next fifteen weeks or so_. _No interrupting, please!_

And the next thing I knew, I was on a beach. It was so beautiful, so serene. It was calming to be in an environment so soothing that just looking at the water would take all the stress away. Wave by wave continuously crashed up against the shore. _Take it, water. Take it, ocean. Take it all away. Clean my mind._

_Buzz. Buzz. Buzz._

I looked all around me. This beach was wide. The stretched out patch of sand seemed to go on forever on either side of me. A few protruding boulders decorated the beachfront. No one else was here. It was secluded. I had it all to myself, and I loved it.

_Buzz. Buzz. Buzz._

Something was humming in the air. Or was it? I finally laid eyes on the sight before me. It was red, orange-red. The sky was starting to fill with a bright, warm and inviting purple. A few gulls flew by. The sun looked gorgeous. It was as if I was literally staring at a painting. Half of the sun seemed to be hiding underneath the horizon ahead, but that half looked to be replaced by the reflection on the deep blue water where the sun seemed to be kissing the ocean. My hands lifted themselves in front of me. I wanted to touch it, to be able to feel what beauty was.

_Buzz. Buzz. Buzz._

"Be quiet, buzzing!" I heard myself scream out as best I could. Before I knew it, the sun was beginning to fade into darkness. The patch of sand that I was standing on turned to white. All around me was nothing. "Don't go. I want you here!"

_Buzz. Buzz. Buzz._

"Stop it!" I whispered loudly jolting forwards from my lying position. It had ended. That blissful paradise that I was so lucky to have entered through my dreams was gone. It was now nothing but a memory. But I yearned for that memory. I wanted to go back to that beach and feel the sand between my toes, breathe in the cool ocean air watching the sunset enhance itself with perfection as it steadily descended into the earth. It was so beautiful. Could there have been anything more picturesque to stare at for the entirety of my life?

_Buzz. Buzz. Buzz._ So, the buzzing was real! My head immediately jerked to the left. In the darkness lit my cell phone with a bright blue glow on its front. I looked at the clock and had it already registered in my mind that this person was crazy for calling me at 3:35 in the morning. I picked up my cell and stared at the number.

_Alex?_ Her face filled the very corners of my mind. _What in the world? Did something…bad happen? How long has it been? One and a half, maybe two months since then? _My heart picked up at the same pace of my thinking. What was today? December the 13th? Nothing special. But I had distinctly remembered the number 12 being unique when it came to months. I muttered curses under my breath and continued to chastise myself. I had done nothing wrong, but I had already forgotten. There was nothing to feel bad about at all, right? We were already through.

_Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. _The vibrating continued its relentless reminder that Alex was on the other side of the call. _Just play it cool. I haven't exactly spoken to her in a while, but that doesn't mean I can't be casual about it, right? Right brain? _I had wished someone would have answered back and assured me that what I was planning was the right thing to do. _Just do it!_ The phone slid up, and I quickly glued it to my ear using my other hand to force it to stay there.

"Hello?" I hesitantly uttered hoping it was just a false alarm. Nothing. There was nothing. No one answered. Was anyone even on the line?

"Hello." I said with a little more force after my nerves had caught up with me. _Honk._ Wait, was that a car? Okay, so someone _was_ on the line. But apparently they were either in a car with the windows rolled down or they were walking outside or something. It gave me a boost in confidence.

"Hello!" I practically shouted into the receiver. First of all, I was pissed that _no one_ was answering the damn phone when they had my attention at 3 in the freakin' morning, and secondly, this call could have been an accident or joke, and I did not want to be the bearer of either. "Alex, hello?"

Was I hearing breathing? I wasn't exactly sure, but I was hoping for just a little bit that I had finally gotten the caller's attention. "Alex! Are you all right? Come on! I know that's you on the other side of this call!" Well, at least I hoped it was_._

Utter embarrassment and annoyance took over as my impatience led my anger to rise in the pit of my stomach. She wasn't answering. _What the hell?_ Fine. If Alex wanted to play games, she could play them by herself. I was _not_ going to be a part of them. I was pissed!

"Look, whatever...Geez. Three in the morning? I'm headed back to dream world, 'kay?" I said in a voice that hopefully conveyed my exasperation.

But all the emotions that had went through me at that moment completely melted away as a tiny voice cut through the back-noise of the noticeable traffic and went straight into my ear. "Paige."

I froze not entirely sure about how my vocal chords were holding up. All I could do was breath. This was extremely awkward, but I felt panicky nonetheless. "I'm sorry…" _Sorry? Sorry for what, Alex? Please continue. Sorry you called me so late at night…or early in the morning if you were an optimist? _Who was I kidding? Of course Alex was_. _Why was she apologizing, though? I didn't understand…

_Click._ That was when I heard the line go dead. She had disconnected from me. _Or I could just have bad signal. _Or, Alex disconnected from me, plain and simple. Sighing heavily in defeat, I threw the phone back onto the stand next to my bed and plopped down onto my pillows. It was official. This day could _not_ have gotten any more confusing…

~/~

"Excuse me, miss?"

Pain. Pain. Pain. Headache. Migraine. That was all that was going through _my_ mind. _Ouch_. Where was I? Could I open my eyes?

"Hey you! Whatever your name is," I heard a gruffly rugged voice address to me.

Great. Now someone was poking my shoulder, and it was pissing the crap out of me.

"Lady, hey! Wake up!"

_Okay, fine!_ Slowly, my left eye-lid went up and the brightness of the clear morning sun pierced my pupil causing it to shrink in size and me to gasp from the shock. I tried again, this time squinting real hard due to the pain and the frustration that the light was initiating. I sighed irritably. In front of me was a very dull brick wall embellished, of course, with a few graffiti marks. To my right lay the sidewalk leading to the street running parallel to my own position with cars honking every once in awhile to speed the traffic up. To my left stood a rather skinny-looking oldman with white hair and a white beard looking down at me expressing a side of thoughtfulness. It might have been a caring look, and I knew it was a caring look, but his eyes yelled "wild" just like the worn and tattered clothes he was currently wearing. He smelled as if he hadn't showered in weeks. It took every ounce of control I had not to pinch my nose in fear of offending him.

"You shouldn't be here, miss," he said with a sincere voice. It soothed away some of the pain from my hangover. "It's not safe to lie here all day, even if there is daylight."

My heart went out to the poor man standing in front of me. He looked as if he was living on the streets and that was most likely his case. When my mind had finally caught up with the rest of reality, a gigantic burst of pain erupted from the inside of my skull. I had drunk too damn much. That was why. My hands felt bare, and that was when I looked all around me. I had no scarf from last night which I remembered distinctly having around my neck. My coat was gone. _How the hell did that happen? _I couldn't find my cell phone, and even the bottle of whiskey I had been guzzling down only hours before was nowhere to be found. Sensing the growing concern radiating from inside of me, the older man quelled the silence. "I'm sorry. You probably got picked clean."

_Son of a bitch._ _Son of a bitch_. "Son of a bitch!" I muttered out loud after having it ring through my mind several times. More cars honked along the side, and another surge of pain exploded in my head. _This sucks._ _Happy December 13, the day after. _

And by then, I, Alex Nunez, had already declared this day to be the day that officially sucked.

* * *

**Sorry! :b It was long, yes. But hopefully, the chapters will get shorter. Criticism is greatly welcomed. If I'm doing something wrong, please tell me. That's the only way I know that can help improve writing: if I know what mistakes I'm making.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ode to Us**

**Author's Notes: **Thanks to all who reviewed and read and stuff. You rock!

"Rafi" short for Rafael. "Rache" short for Rachel. See chapter below.

Chapter 2

_~/~_

**POV: **Alex

_Knock. Knock. Knock. _The dryness of my knuckles made itself more evident in the sunlight. It was winter. I had "lost" my coat and scarf. I shouldn't have had to put up with all of this just because I hadn't kept a handy bottle of moisturizer in my pocket. Although, come to think of it, that would have probably been stolen too. The dryness was starting to form cracks on my skin causing the cold air to steadily seep through.

There was no response, so I pushed the doorbell. The stinging from the forming cuts didn't even compare to what I had to endure in my brain. It was like a battle was being waged in there, not just because I was thinking so frantically, but also because of the little explosions of pain that were repeatedly going off in my head. _Honk._ And, of course, now I had developed a pure loathing for drivers who had the guts to slam their hands onto their car horns just because they couldn't handle the traffic.

_Oh my word. Just open the freaking door before I kick it down!_ Before my fist was able to reach the hard green wood in front of me, the door opened and the anger soon left my list of emotions that had been playing on shuffle. Standing there in the doorway with the familiarity of his face, the same jersey and cap that he was still wearing from the night before, and the unchanged slouch he held in his posture mentally slapping me upside the head, the man stared at me with the biggest grin he could hold around his teeth. I had suddenly regretted ever getting drunk at that party last night…or rather earlier this morning, whichever.

"You," I stuttered out finding the last amount of strength I had to keep my body from running. The plastered smile on my face grew even wider. I was starting to feel a bit awkward. "Hey…_you._"

"Well, if it isn't Ms. Thing herself," he said looking at me straight in the eye with an amused expression on his face. "Look, if you want more booze, you're gonna have to go find it somewhere else." He poked his head from out of the doorway and scanned down the road to my left. "Yeah, I think there's a liquor store to the right on that corner," he explained to me as he pointed to the street.

"Wait, wait, wait," I interrupted him with my hands in the air. "This is _your_ apartment?"

He smirked at me. "Yes. It is."

I sighed knowing full well how much of an idiot I must have looked like at that exact moment. It was rude of me, what I did last night, and I was only more embarrassed for it. "Look…Johnny. May I call you Johnny?" I didn't wait for his approval. "Um, see, I'm really, _really_ sorry for what I did to you last night. I was..." I inhaled deeply and exhaled the rest of my explanation. "I was a tease, and I should have been up front with you from the very beginning. So…yeah…"

"It was no problem. When you told me, I actually thought that was kinda _hot_." I rolled my eyes. Why did every guy I tell find that fact so incredibly amazing?

"Really?" I asked with my voice laced in sarcasm.

"Yeah. Definitely. And the way you were swapping spit with that one chick who—I think—was completely wasted was just…_wow." Yeah…Wait, what?!_

"I… _Me?_ There was..." My brain wasn't able to grasp the hidden insinuation of his words. No. That didn't happen. That _couldn't_ have happened…Did it? "What…did I do, again?" I asked praying and hoping that I didn't do what I think I heard I did.

"Uh-oh," he said in a jokey manner. I suddenly felt my cheek being pinched by two of his fingers. "Did little Ms. Sunshine have one too many bottles last night?" He almost sounded like Jay there for a moment.

I slapped his hand away and took a step closer to him giving him one of my meanest glares. If it had worked back in high school, it should have had the ability to work now. "Remind me of my little…incident, please."

"Huh. You really can't remember can you?"

I shook my head. "No, of course not! I was completely hammered! Why do you think I'd even ask?"

"Because people like to gloat?" My glare only intensified, and I found my fists clenching themselves tightly. He held up his hands in an attempt to calm me down. "All right, all right. Yikes. Don't get all bitchy on me." It took all the strength I had not to punch him in the face right then and there. My migraine only served to worsen my self-control. He leaned in towards me carefully lowering his voice so that I would be the only one to pick it up. There was no need to let the whole city of Ajax in on my little apparent escapade. "You remember your pong partner, the blonde girl?"

He leaned back and watched as my mind went through a quick search of my memories. _Blonde girl? What blonde girl? Well, I remember beer pong, and I distinctly remember drinking lots and lots of the ridiculous poison they call alcohol, but…wait a second…my partner? _I brought myself out of my daydream. "…Rachel?" I asked trying to confirm my suspicions.

My eyes grew wider as he nodded his head slowly up and down. "Yup. There was, um…kind of this bet…"

_~/~_ _Rewind to yesterday: December 12__th__. The Kegger. ~/~_

_It was the third and final game of the seeming century as packs upon packs of people began crowding the already maxed-out living room. A few from those packs were patiently waiting their turn to have a go at the illustrious college sport of beer pong, while others, who seemed mildly interested in the game arrived in hopes of watching the astronomical event that was sure to take place due to the bets that had been made by the original players. What was this astronomical event that most of the audience in the overcrowded apartment waited for? One should go no further in their investigation after listening to the conversation that had taken place merely several minutes prior to the concluding match that was transpiring right before their very eyes.  
_

"_Yes! High-five!" yelled one of the brunette players as she jumped up and down slapping hands with the girl next to her._

"_Alex, you rocked!" the blonde girl responded grinning like crazy. They were both obviously drunk or were in the beginning stages of it, but they had still taken pride in the fact that they had managed to win the second round with barely a cup to spare._

"_No, Rachel," replied Alex as she wrapped an arm around the other girl's shoulder in a friendly gesture. "I am afraid I cannot take all the credit." When Alex got drunk, she tried to articulate her speech in an intelligent manner, "tried" being the keyword there. "You were…excellent!"_

"_I know I was!"_

_One of the beer pong participants, a fraternity member probably around the age of 20 to 21, noticed the closeness and smiled from across the table. "Well, well, well, ladies. Getting a bit chummy over there, are we?" His buddy laughed in understanding._

"_Yes," spoke up Alex. "It's called being friendly."_

_His brow raised in interest. "I'm…sure it is…" You could distinctly see a roll of the eyes from both girls, but that only made the smile on his face lengthen._

_Rachel grabbed a few cups from off the table and proceeded to reorganize them in a new neat pyramid. "Look, it's a tie right now," she started. "1 to 1. So, I say…one more game to determine the winner? Yes? No?"_

"_Of course, Rache," responded the red-headed guy who had apparently known Rachel very well if he was using a nickname for her. He smiled and started mimicking her actions. "But, you do you know your lucky streak is about to come to an end, right?"_

"_Whatever, Chris."_

_The frat brother next to him seemed to be deep in thought, and when he had finally come out of it, he could no longer hide the mischievous smile now forming on his face. Alex knew straight away that whatever he was about to tell them was going to be either amazingly funny or just plain stupid. "Chris, how 'bout we make things a bit more interesting for our last round."_

_Chris snorted. "Uh…What did you have in mind?"_

"_A bet…" Staring intently at both Alex and Rachel who were now giving him their full attention, Rafael walked over to their side and folded his arms above his chest. "If you two lose…I think a little French action should be in order."_

_The expression on Rachel's face turned into that of a dull one. With her hands placed firmly on her hips, she shook her head and spoke. "Rafi, I am _not_ kissing you."_

"_Uh, yeah! Neither am I," uttered Alex._

"_Good," he answered walking back to his side next to Chris fiddling with the ping-pong ball in his hand. "Because I didn't ask for you guys to kiss _me_."_

_With a knowing look developing on his face, Chris, Rafael's beer pong partner, opened his mouth wide in shock. He knew he was going to get a kick out of whatever Rafi had cooked up, but he didn't think it was going to be _that_ good. Chris started laughing the moment the two women stared at each other. It was as if they were trying to understand just what this bet was all about. If Alex and Rachel hadn't known any better, they would have probably guessed that Rafael implied it be between the two of them. Sure, they were pretty much wasted at that point, but they still held control over where their actions took them. It wasn't as if they were about to go drive a car for the hell of it._

"_What?" hesitantly asked Alex with her gaze set firmly on Rafael._

"_Wait," Rachel interrupted with a hand to Alex's shoulder. "What do we get if we _win_?"_

_It was a good question, and reluctantly for him, Rafi had to answer. "Place your bet, Rache. What would you love for us to do?"_

"_What?! I have to be a part of this bet?" cried Chris looking incredulous. "I didn't even do anything!"_

_But apparently, no one seemed to care about what Chris had to say. Rachel stepped forward and looked directly into Rafi's eyes, determination set within her own. "You guys do the same, French boy." She held out a hand for him to shake. "We clear?"_

_The deal had been signed with a firm handshake, but in all honesty, were Rafael, Alex, Chris, and Rachel going to keep up their ends of the bargain should it have led to that outcome? That was what all the young spectators were hoping for. After the wager was made, word spread across the apartment like wildfire. People were actually interested in watching the game if only for the end result, and consequently a lot of students kept walking right in._

_Ultimately, it had come down to this. One cup stood on each side of the table. Actually it had been that way for a while. Even when slightly under the influence, it can be quite difficult to have proper aim. Nonetheless, that was part of the point in beer pong. The more you drank, the harder it was to throw and be successful in the attempt. Rafael stood at the ready, sweat beading on his forehead in torturous anticipation of ending the game. He was determined. Oh, yes, he was determined all right. He was determined not to lose and awkwardly play tongue wrestle with Chris. Chris, Alex, and Rachel, were all, of course, feeling the same way. With Alex, you would have thought that she'd feel okay about it like it was no big deal, but she was completely terrified. However, one by one, each plastic cup of beer she drank slowly disintegrated those feelings away, and she was steadily finding comfort. Maybe they had a chance at winning this. Maybe Rafael was about to miss, and they still had a shot at victory. She had to have hope._

_It was all or nothing. Alex kept her fingers mentally crossed. Rachel clenched her fists and looked intently at Rafael. Chris looked away and kept his eyes closed. Rafael took aim and threw his arm back. The ball flew into the air. It bounced once, rimmed Rachel's and Alex's cup, and spun inside creating a splash from the liquid. Rafi had actually done it. He made it into their cup. The grin that he had on his face could have only been described as watching a die-hard basketball fan after finding out their team had just won the play-offs._

"_Yeah! Whoo!" Rafi watched as Alex angrily gulped down the last cup of alcohol. He kept on smirking. It seemed to be annoying her to no end. "And no rebuttals! Rules of the game! Sorry." The crowd in the house shouted and cheered most of them being guys proud at the fact that their buddy Rafi had won._

_Knocking back the last few drops of booze, Alex licked her lips and sighed after carefully placing her cup back on the table. She watched as Rafael made his way over to her with his stupid smirk in tow and folded her arms waiting for what she knew was going to be coming out of his mouth. "Well?"_

_Rachel, deciding that swiftness was a good way to go about it, walked up right next to Alex placing a hand on her shoulder to indicate her position. "It'll be quick. No worries." But when their eyes had made contact, she lost the confidence that she once held. Alex thought that she was right: waiting only prolonged the awkwardness, and she wasn't one to give up on bets she willingly walked into either. But Alex and Rachel barely knew each other, yet there they were standing close to one another getting cheered on by the eager crowd to get even closer. _

"_Okay." Following a brief yet calming intake of breathe, Alex slowly leaned in glancing every once in a while at the blonde's lips to guide her own to them. She felt a hand awkwardly place itself on the side of her cheek, and her heart picked up speed as her nerves started playing with her emotions. Her head began tilting ever so slightly to the side. As soon as she felt that wave of hot air hit her mouth, her eyes closed shut with her senses awaiting the inevitable. The whistles from the spectators merely grew louder as their lips softly met unsure of where they were going to take it next._

"_Whoo! It's getting hot in here," said Rafael whose gaze was undeniably placed at the sight that was playing out before him._

"_Yeah, it is!" yelled a jock from the crowd, and there was a resounding chuckle throughout the whole of the apartment._

_Slowly but surely, the kiss deepened when Alex had felt a tongue casually glide across her lip, and the exploration of both of their mouths had commenced albeit insecurely._

_Amongst the crowd, Johnny struggled to keep his mouth closed…_

_~/~_

Cars honked, and clouds began to descend upon the city as it had noticeably become grayer bringing along with it an atmosphere of gloom and depression. I hadn't even noticed the wind that had picked up until after the goose bumps on my skin emerged, but I didn't shiver. Cold? What was cold? To me, cold was something you started to feel when the temperature had lowered itself considerably or if an unexpected wintry breeze flew by that had suddenly taken your senses by surprise. I wasn't feeling that at the moment. My skin might have showed it, but it was like the wind had no effect on the rest of my body. I was able to ignore it for the reason that my mind had created a bigger distraction in terms of what I was focusing on. My memories from the kegger last night were gradually coming back bit by bit. I had wondered how I was able to suppress them for so long, but my answers all pointed to the big contribution that alcohol held while floating around in my system.

I had remembered. I had remembered kissing Rachel. I had remembered when our lips had touched, how feathery and light they were at the beginning, and I remembered what our tongues felt like whenever they had made contact with each other. But I also remembered how dissatisfied I felt during that kiss and why I had suddenly felt guilty every time I thought about it. It hadn't felt right then, and it surely wasn't feeling appropriate now, not with Paige running through my mind. I had foolishly tried to trick myself into believing that I was with Paige and that all I had to do was keep my eyes closed shut and picture her the entire time a complete stranger and I kissed, but it had only served to make things worse. It was thoughtless of me to do that with someone I had just barely met.

A snap from Johnny's fingers had brought me out of my reverie, and I looked up at him feeling shame and embarrassment cross my features. "Um sorry, but, besides making me stand here and tell you all about your little drunken adventures at frat parties, why else are you here? Did you forget something?"

Did I forget something? Oh yeah. I shook my head to temporarily rid myself of yesterday's consequential reflections. "Yeah, uh, my cousin came here with me…" That reminded me. _I hope she hadn't seen what I did last night._ "Elizabeth Henderson, about this tall, light brown hair, green eyes," I explained with my hand indicating her height. I was hoping this was all making sense to him.

"Elizabeth, Elizabeth…Hmm." I watched as he tried to recall every single person who had attended his party. Giving up, he took a step back pushing the door all the way open to reveal the living room. My brow shot up reacting to the prospect of seeing several unconscious bodies lying around all over the floor with the couch hilariously holding a few of them. "Uh…One of those people might be her. You can come inside and check if you want."

I contained an up-and-coming laugh with my hand so as to not wake anyone up and slowly made my way inside the familiar location. "Thank you," I said turning to him. Hey, maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

"No problem," he whispered back and before he had the chance to disappear into the other room, he turned around to look at me. "Oh, and you might wanna check upstairs too. You know…just in case."

I smiled my appreciation, and he made his way into the kitchen. Taking in the surroundings, I noticed that the place looked completely trashed. There were a few shattered bulbs on a table about which I had no idea how they had gotten there in the first place, and several cups and cans and whatnot lay scattered all over the wooden floor. This was going to be one hell of an obstacle course. I sighed and tiptoed over things that would have probably made noise if my foot had come into contact with them, and stopped on a visible patch of floor within the living room that had prime sight over the entire layout. Body after body, my eyes jumped from one after the other searching for a tiny brunette who I had assumed that when I found her was going to be downright hung-over. _Yikes._ The scene before me looked like it came from a crazy episode of _CSI. _Such was the nature of the bodies lying all throughout the entirety of the apartment. However, Liz was nowhere to be found among them.

_Crap._ That meant I had to go upstairs. My annoyance making itself obvious through my heavy breathing, I turned around and swiftly but quietly ran up the flight of steps. This part of the building had been darker, and I had firmly believed that the three doors, one on the right of the hallway, one on the left, and one at the very far end in front of me were all bedrooms. I wasn't really sure of what to expect. If they _were_ bedrooms that meant that I could very well walk into something that I should not be walking into. But they could just be sleeping, or there was a possibility that no one was occupying the rooms. I was praying for the latter. All of a sudden, I heard the sound of a doorknob unlocking, and I started to panic. Why was I panicking? Johnny had let me in, and he even suggested that I look up here. Nonetheless, that didn't stop my heart from beating wildly. Why did I feel like an intruder? The door nearest me soon opened and that was when I had taken in the sight of the person that stood in front of me.

"Alex?" _Uh-oh._ Well, this was weird.

"Rachel…hi," I responded. Rachel was standing in the doorway of the bathroom clad in a tank top, sweater, and a pair of pajama pants. _Wow._ Either she was one of those party-goers who were _really_ prepared for those special 'overnight events,' or she just happened to be living in the same building as Johnny. Curiosity got the better of me. "You're roommates with Johnny?"

I could tell she was feeling the same environment of embarrassment that I had been feeling. "Uh, yeah actually. I live here," she responded keeping her gaze away from me. I couldn't blame her.

"Listen, about last night…"

"Last night? Nothing happened last night," she hurriedly answered. "We were kinda both drunk, and, uh, we had a drunken moment." Well, at least she was on the same page as me._  
_

"Kinda?" I asked accompanying it with a small laugh. This "kinda" reminded me of that incident after the movie premiere with Paige. The familiarity of the situation allowed me to continue messing with Rachel's mind. "Yeah, I guess so. I guess we just _kinda_ drunkenly fell onto one another's lips, and I guess we just _kinda_ stuck our tongues down each other's throats trying to explore what our mouths feel like, and I guess we _kinda _just—"

Attempting to pull away from the subject, Rachel tried interrupting. "So, what's up? Why…are you here?"

It made my smile grow. "Don't worry. I'm not here for a post-make out chat about where we stand in our relationship…" _Oops. That kinda came out weird…_

I watched as her heard turned away while my eyes took notice of the blushed color on her cheeks. _Was I really that much of an embarrassment to her? _"Yeah. So, uh, you gonna answer my earlier question?"

_Uh, okay…_ "Well, I actually came back looking for my cousin, Liz," I cautiously started. "Do you…happen to know if she's here or not?"

"Liz…Yes, this 'Liz' person sounds very familiar..." I followed behind Rachel as she hastily made her way to the door on our left. "Alex," she began as she took hold of the doorknob. I already had a bad feeling about this. "Let me introduce you to the sex fiends who stole my room last night." And she twisted the handle on the door pushing it with such force that it took me by surprise.

"Oh, you have _got_ to be fucking kidding me..."

"Alex, what the hell?"

"What the hell? _What the hell?! _Lizzy, what the fuck happened to you last night?"

"Well…" _All right. Stupid question._ When I had entered the room, the first thing I had noticed was the "bumpy" looking bed in front of me. Guess who I found in that bed? It was none other than my idiotic little cousin and some random guy she apparently decided to hook-up with the night before. Clothes were lying all over the ground, and my nose scrunched up in disgust as the thought of her and this..._ignoramus_ now cluttered my mind. I just couldn't look anymore. So, I drew my attention to the floor.

Then, out of the blue, a yawn, a very light-sounding yawn, a very _feminine_ yawn that had belonged to neither me nor Elizabeth or Rachel had struck my ear from out of nowhere. When I had looked up and back onto the bed where lay my cousin and Guy #12 of the week, a third figure had emerged from under the sheets looking very much tired. Here was the setup on the bed from left to right: Elizabeth, her "friend who happened to be a guy with benefits," and some dark-haired skank. "What's with all the ruckus?" asked the third musketeer. _Yeah. My cousin left me on the streets to go have a fucking threesome. Best line ever. [Insert sarcasm here]  
_

Had I thought earlier that this day could not have gotten any worse? What was I thinking? That was a complete lie. After finding out that I had gotten mugged with me being fully unaware of it, the guy I teased and made fun of happened to own the apartment I was standing in, I locked French lips with a girl I hardly knew, the same girl happened to be living in the same building as the guy that owned the apartment, _and_ Elizabeth could have cared less about her cousin sleeping out on the streets when it came to having sex, I was pretty sure that the entire _week_ couldn't get any worse. What was next? Was I going to find out that I was still in love with Paige? That I accidentally let something slip out to her in my alcohol-induced awareness after drinking tons and tons of beer and bourbon? _Ha. Now, _that _is funny...That is funny...right? I just like to make stuff up about myself in my head, right? Right? _Then, why the hell wasn't I finding it even in the least bit amusing?

"Uh, Lexi. Are you all right? Look I'm really sorry for ditching you and stuff, but you looked like you were fine and everything. I mean, when I saw you sucking face with _her_, I thought..." My ears had already faded her voice away from my mind.

The next thing I knew, I was making a mad dash for the front door.

* * *

**Critique me! Let me know what you like or didn't like about it! Oh yeah, and did I say that the chapters were going to get shorter? Oops. My bad. I can't help it. I like detail. =/**


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